Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaʻōleiokū

At the time of ‘contact’ (Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,)) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

On the Big Island, one of Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s wives was Kānekapōlei (Kāne in the circle of beloved ones (ksbe.))  She is claimed by some to have been the daughter of Kauakahiakua of the Maui royal family and his wife Umiaemoku; some suggest she is said to have been of the Kaʻū family of chiefs.

According to Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau, her father Kauakahiakua owned the sea cucumber (loli) ovens of the district of Kaupo on the island of Maui.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu was born about 1729.  His brother was Keōua.  When Keōua (the father of Kamehameha) died, he commended Kamehameha to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child. (Dibble)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kānekapōlei had two sons, Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and Keōua Peʻeale.

In accordance with the ways of the high chiefs at the time, in his youth, Kamehameha had sexual relations with Kānekapōlei and had a son, Pauli Kaʻōleiokū (1767.)

(Among the chiefs, a boy was not only trained in warfare and government but when he was grown physically, a matured chiefess was chosen to train him in sexual practices. This was part of his education. Should a child result, he or she was reared by the mother.  (Handy & Pukui))

Thus it was that Kamehameha claimed Kaʻōleiokū as “the son of my beardless youth,” at the dedication of the heiau of Puʻukohola. This was the son borne to him by Kānekapōlei, one of the wives of his uncle Kalaniʻōpuʻu.  (Handy & Pukui)  He was known as ‘keiki makahiapo’ (first-born child) of Kamehameha.  (Stokes)

On December 1, 1778, Kaʻōleiokū, his brother Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and cousin Kamehameha, slept on board Captain Cook’s vessel ‘Resolution,’ when off the Maui coast. Since Cook’s vessels were regarded as “temples,” the stay overnight probably had a religious significance to the Hawaiians, because their worship ordained spending certain nights in the temples.  (Stokes)

Lieut. King says Kaʻōleiokū was about twelve years old in 1779, and “used to boast of his being admitted to drink ava, and shewed us, with great triumph, a small spot in his side that was growing scaly. … (the) young son pointed to us some places on his hips that were becoming scaly, as a mark of his being long indulged in this Liquor.”

Kaʻōleiokū witnessed Cook’s death on February 14, 1779, with Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Keōua; he had already accepted Cook’s invitation to spend the day on board and proceeded ahead to the pinnace (a tender boat,) where he was seated at the time of the massacre. Greatly frightened at the firing, he asked to be put ashore again, which was done.  (Stokes)

Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and his younger brother Kaʻōleiokū had for many years resisted Kamehameha’s attempts to conquer the whole of Hawaiʻi Island, after the death of Kiwalaʻo in the Battle of Mokuʻōhai (1782.)  Keōua escaped the battle to relatives in the Kaʻū district to the South.  (Stokes)

Keōua was killed in 1791, when Kamehameha invited him to the Puʻukoholā Heiau in Kohala.  Kamakau tells of how Pauli Kaʻōleiokū was spared:
“On the arrival of the canoe of Pauli Kaʻōleiokū, in the vicinity where Keōua was killed … Kamehameha said: ‘He shall not die, as he is the son of my youth and this is the payment for my food on which I was reared.’ … (he then) proclaimed the Māmalahoe Law: the law of life in Kamehameha’s kingdom. When the people on board Pauli Kaʻōleiokū’s canoe heard the law proclaimed, they came ashore, and wails of mourning for the death of Keōuakū‘ahu‘ula resounded.”

Kamehameha had been living on Hawai‘i for four years when the news of the attempts of the Russians to set up a compound at Honolulu Harbor reached him (1815.) He sent Kalanimōku, Ulumāheihei, Nāihe, Kaikioʻewa, Kaʻōleiokū and Keʻeaumoku with numerous warriors equipped with foreign weapons. (Desha)

These aliʻi were commanded to go and fight with those foreigners if they opposed them, and to expel them from the land.  They expelled the Russians. Kalanimōku, with the help of Kaʻōleiokū and other high chiefs built a fort at Honolulu, setting up some cannons on it. (Desha)

Pauli Kaʻōleiokū is said to have married twice, first Keōuawahine and then Luahine.  With Luahine they had one child, Princess Konia; Princess Konia married Abner Paki, they had one child, Princess Bernice Pauahi. (He was also the maternal grandfather of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.)

Great granddaughter of Kamehameha I and granddaughter of Kānekapōlei, Princess Bernice Pauahi officially was eligible to the throne by order of Kamehameha III; she was offered the throne by Kamehameha V, but refused it.  (Stokes)

In 1850, the princess was married at the Royal School to Mr Charles Reed Bishop of New York, who started the bank of what is now known as First Hawaiian Bank. A small wedding was conducted with only a few attending.

Princess Bernice Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884.  She foresaw the need to educate her people and in her will she left her large estate of the Kamehameha lands in trust to establish the Kamehameha Schools for children with Hawaiian blood.

(Some suggest Kaʻōleiokū was the son of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, not Kamehameha.  Kalākaua suggests Kaʻōleiokū had four fathers, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha, Keawemauhili and Kaukamu, suggesting Kānekapōlei was sleeping with all of them.) The image shows Konia, daughter of Kaʻōleiokū.  

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Plain of Numbering

At about the same time of Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic to America (he was looking for an alternate trade route to the East Indies,) exciting stuff was happening here in the Hawaiian Islands.

The political governance and land management system by Aliʻi-ai-moku, was expanding and developing after two centuries since its inception, and there was a wake of progress taking place on our shores.

It was a natural progression, which began with three brothers as the first Aliʻi-ai-moku in the 12th century; Kumuhonua on Oʻahu, Olopana on Hawaiʻi, and Moikeha on Kauai, as grandsons of Maweke.  (Yardley)

When they arrived from Tahiti with their new system, their first cousins were already serving as High Chiefs – “Laʻakona, High Chief of ʻEwa; Nuakea, Queen Consort of Molokai; Mōʻī, kaula (prophet) of Molokai; and Hinakaimauliawa, High Chiefess of Koʻolau.” (Beckwith, Yardley)

Then, in the time of Columbus, the new Aliʻi-ai-moku were: Māʻilikūkahi on Oʻahu, Piʻilani on Maui, ʻUmi-a-Līloa on Hawaiʻi and Kukona on Kauai.

ʻUmi-a-Līloa (ʻUmi) from Waipiʻo, son of Līloa, defeated Kona chief Ehunuikaimalino and united the island of Hawai‘i.  He then moved his Royal Center from Waipi‘o to Kona.

At about the time of ʻUmi, a significant new form of agriculture was developed in Kona; he is credited with starting it.  Today, archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.”

The Kona Field System was planted in long, narrow fields that ran across the contours, along the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualālai.  As rainfall increases rapidly as you go up the side of Hualālai, the long fields allowed farmers to plant different crops according to the rainfall gradients.

In lower elevations all the way to the shore, informal clearings, mounds and terraces were used to plant sweet potatoes; and on the forest fringe above the walled fields there were clearings, mounds and terraces which were primarily planted in bananas.

This intensive agricultural activity changed farming and agricultural production on the western side of Hawai’i Island; the Kona field system was quite large, extending from Kailua to south of Honaunau

In the lower reaches of the tillable land, at elevations about 500-feet to 1,000-feet above sea level, a grove of breadfruit half mile wide and 20 miles long grew.  Sweet potatoes grew among the breadfruit.  Above the breadfruit grove, at elevations where the rainfall reached 60-70 inches or more, were fields of dry land taro.

The Kona Field System was described as “the most monumental work of the ancient Hawaiians.”  The challenge of farming in Kona is to produce a flourishing agricultural economy in an area subject to frequent droughts, with no lakes or streams for irrigation.

The field system was not the only contribution of ʻUmi.

The history of data processing in Hawaii covers almost five centuries, from the legendary census of King ʻUmi (c. 1500) to the present time.

It embraces at least five forms of technology: pre-contact manual methods, post-contact manual methods (including the abacus and slide rule,) the adding machine and desk calculator, punched-card equipment and the modern computer.  (Schmitt)

No statistical record of pre-contact population still exists, unless you look at the legendary census of ʻUmi.  ʻUmi’s census, taken at the beginning of the 16th century, was an early example of data processing.

For this census, each inhabitant of the Island of Hawaiʻi was instructed to come to a place called the “Plain of Numbering” to put a rock on the pile representing his own district. The result, still visible today, was a three-dimensional graphic portrayal of population size and distribution.

ʻUmi collected all the people of Hawaiʻi at a small plain between the cones on the inner side of Hualālai.  Two small hills are said to have been the seats of the king and queen, with their retainers, while the census was being taken

Later all the people went down on the plain, where each deposited a stone, the strongest the largest, making huge stone-pile memorials around the heiau, one for each district and on the sides toward the districts.  (Baker)

Here are some early accounts getting there.  “… after a day’s travel they reached the site of the ancient temple … These ruins lie equally distant from three mountains, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Hualālai.  This temple is said to be built by ʻUmi ….”  (Wilkes, 1841)

“Up the long slope of Hualālai we ascended to Kaʻalapuali, following the old Judd trail through fields of green cane, through grass lands, through primeval forests, over fallen monarchs, finally out on that semi-arid upland which lies between Hualālai and Mauna Loa.  Here we turned up the slope of Hualālai, climbing through a forest cover of ʻōhiʻa lehua and sandalwood carpeted with golden-eyed daisies – another picture of Hawaii, never to be forgotten.”

 “Farther up the Judd trail, we came to that unique “Plain of Numbering”, where King ʻUmi built his heiau over four centuries ago and called his people together from all the Island of Hawaiʻi. There is a romantic glamor hanging around those heaps of rocks which numbered the people who gathered at Ahu a ʻUmi that will remain as a fond memory throughout eternity.”  (Thrum, 1924)

 “… we unexpectedly fell upon an ancient temple of the Hawaiian gods, built in a dreary wilderness, far from the habitations of men. … (it) is a square, 100 feet on a side. Its walls, built of the fragments of ancient lava, were eight feet high, and four feet thick. … Around the principal structure, and at the distance of ten to twenty feet, there were eight pyramids, about twelve feet in diameter, and twelve to fifteen in height.”  (Hiram Bingham, 1830)

The piles (pyramids, as Bingham called them) showed the relative size of the population of the districts.  “Kona is the most populous of the six great divisions of Hawaiʻi.” (Kohala is next.)  (Lots of information here from Baker, Schmitt and Thrum.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keaweaheulu

After a struggle of more than ten years, in 1791, Kamehameha succeeded in securing control over that island of Hawaiʻi (and later, the entire Hawaiian Islands chain.)

In getting there, he appointed Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa to be his secret advisors (hoa kuka malu) and counselors (hoaʻahaʻolelo) in ruling the island. They alone were consulted about what would be for the good or the ill of the country.  (Kamakau)

Keaweaheulu Kaluaʻapana was a Hawaiian high chief and maternal great-grandfather of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. He was among Kamehameha I’s council of chiefs and was one of the “Kona Uncles.”  His father was the High Chief Heulu. He belonged to the ʻI, Mahikukulu and the Mahiʻololi families.  (Kamakau)

Late in 1790, Kamehameha sent an emissary to the famous kahuna (priest) Kapoukahi, to determine how Kamehameha could conquer all of the island of Hawaiʻi.  Kapoukahi prophesized that war would end if Kamehameha constructed a heiau dedicated to the war god Kū at Puʻukoholā.  (This was at about the same time that George Washington was serving as the US’s first president (1790.))

With Puʻukohola was completed in 1791, but, pending its formal consecration, Keaweaheulu and Kamanawa were dispatched to Kaʻū under a flag of truce, to invite Keōua to visit Kamehameha, with the view of arranging terms of peace.  (Kalākaua)

Kamehameha gave the order: “Go to Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and tell him that great is my desire to make friends (ike.) You are the best one to bear the message, for you are related to his mother, and he will heed your words sooner than anything I could say to him.”  (Pratt)

By the time Keōua’s canoes arrived at Kawaihae, it was clear that Keōua expected Kamehameha’s warriors would try to kill him and all his supporters travelling with him in his canoe (“the wind clouds are gathering in the heavens for a storm.”

Just as Keōua was stepping from the canoe onto the beach at Kawaihae, Keʻeaumoku and other chiefs of Kamehameha’s forces attacked and killed Keōua.

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi Island, an event that according to prophecy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

Keaweaheulu was at Kaʻawaloa at the time of Cook’s death; he assisted Kamehameha in his battles with Kiwalaʻo and Keōua on Hawaiʻi; he was at ʻIao in the Battle of Kepaniwai; he was at Molokaʻi when Kalola died and her granddaughter, Keōpūolani (Queen mother to Liholiho and Kauikeaouli) was given to Kamehameha.

Following the victories, Kamehameha made his Kona Uncles his governors (kuhina) and gave them large tracts of land from Hawaiʻi to Oʻahu in payment for their services; Kamehameha himself had no power to recover these lands. Keaweaheulu estates were the lands of Kapalilua, Kaʻawaloa and Kealakekua (South Kona.) (Kamakau)

Keaweaheulu was married to Ululani, one of the most renowned women of her day, being a chiefess of the Maui line and the outstanding poet of her generation.  She bore him two children who were to become equally famous.

They were Naihe, an accomplished Orator and athlete of Kona, and Keohohiwa.  It was through Keohohiwa that another legacy was founded in the Islands.

“My great-grandfather, Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua (nui,) father of Kamehameha I, were own cousins (he was also brother of Mrs. Bishop’s ancestress, Hakau), and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

“(Kapiʻolani) plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire. This was the act which broke forever the power of Pele, the fire-goddess, over the hearts of her people.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

Since King Lunalilo did not nominate his successor, on his death an election of his successor was made by the legislature – Kalākaua became King by a count of 39 – 6 (over Queen Emma.)

“The contest for the succession which resulted in the elevation of my family – the Keawe-a-Heulu line – to royal honors is of course a matter of history.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

“The direct line of the “Kamehamehas” having become extinct, it was succeeded by the “Keawe-a-Heulu” line, its founder having been first cousin to the father of Kamehameha I.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

Kalākaua reigned from February 12, 1874 to January 20, 1891; his sister, Liliʻuokalani, reigned from January 29, 1891 to January 17, 1893.

Later, following the death of Liliʻuokalani, some lamented:
“Auwe, auwe, ua make kuu Aliʻi. Aole e hoi hou mai.”
(Alas, alas, dead is my chief. And no more will return.)

“Auwe, auwe, ua make kuu Aliʻi.”
(Alas, alas, gone is our chief, and now is the name no more.) (Hart)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i Natural Area Reserves System (NARS)

Hawai`i contains unique natural resources, such as geologic and volcanic features and distinctive marine and terrestrial plants and animals, many of which occur nowhere else in the world.

In 1970, the legislature statewide Natural Area Reserves System (NARS) was established to preserve in perpetuity specific land and water areas which support communities, as relatively unmodified as possible, of the natural flora and fauna, as well as geological sites, of Hawai`i.

Areas that are designated as NARS are protected by rules and management activities that are designed to keep the native ecosystem intact, so a sample of that natural community will be preserved for future generations.

Contained in the System are some of Hawai`i’s most treasured forests, coastal areas and even marine ecosystems.  Some would argue the NARS are the best of the best natural areas.

The Natural Area Reserves System (NARS)  currently consists of reserves on five islands, totaling 109,165 acres. (DLNR)

NARS was established to protect the best remaining native ecosystems and geological sites in the State.

A Natural Area Reserves System (NARS) Commission assists DLNR and serves in an advisory capacity for the Board of Land and Natural Resources, which sets policies for the Department.

The diverse areas found in the NARS range from marine and coastal environments to lava flows, tropical rainforests and even an alpine desert.  Within these areas one can find rare endemic plants and animals, many of which are on the edge of extinction.

While NARS is based on the concept of protecting native ecosystems, as opposed to single species, many threatened and endangered (T&E) plants and animals benefit from the protection efforts through NARS.

Major management activities involve fencing and control of feral ungulates (wild, hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, deer and pigs), control of other invasive species (weeds, small mammalian predators), fire prevention and control, rare plant restoration, monitoring, public outreach, and maintenance of existing infrastructure, such as trails and signs.

The reserves also protect some of the major watershed areas which provide our vital sources of fresh water.

To protect Hawai`i’s invaluable ecosystems, a dedicated funding mechanism was created for the Natural Area Partnership Program, the Natural Area Reserves, the Watershed Partnerships Program and the Youth Conservation Corps through the tax paid on conveyances of land.

These revenues are deposited into the Natural Area Reserve (NAR) Special Fund and support land management actions on six major islands and engage over 60 public-private landowners, partners and agencies.

The Natural Area Reserves System is administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife.  Here is a list of the reserves:

Big Island:

  • Pu‘u O ‘Umi
  • Laupāhoehoe
  • Mauna Kea Ice Age
  • Waiākea 1942 Lava Flow
  • Pu‘u Maka‘ala
  • Kahauale`a
  • Kīpāhoehoe
  • Manukā
  • Waiea

Maui

  • West Maui
  • Hanawi
  • Kanaio
  • ‘Ahihi Kīna’u
  • Nakula

Molokai

  • Oloku‘i
  • Pu‘u Ali‘i

O‘ahu

  • Ka‘ena Point
  • Pahole
  • Mount Kaʻala
  • Kaluanui
  • Pia

Kauai

  • Hono O Na Pali
  • Kuia

See more here: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/ecosystems/nars/ 

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamehameha Schools

Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa; she became the largest landowner in the islands.

At her death, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres)

Bernice Pauahi was the birth daughter of Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (Pauahi was the great-granddaughter and direct royal descendant of Kamehameha the Great.)

She was reared with her parent’s hānai child, Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha (birth daughter of High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole and High Chief Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea, who later became Queen Liliʻuokalani.) The two girls developed a close, loving relationship. They attended the Chief’s Children’s School, a boarding school, together, and were known for their studious demeanor.

Pauahi’s will formed and funded the Kamehameha Schools; “Thirteenth.  I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal, wherever situated unto the trustees below named, their heirs and assigns forever, to hold upon the following trusts, namely: to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.”  (KSBE)

Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

She directed “that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion, but I do not intend that the choice should be restricted to persons of any particular sect of Protestants.”

On November 4, 1887, three years after her death, the Kamehameha School for Boys, originally established as an all-boys school on the grounds of the current Bishop Museum, opened with 37 students and four teachers.  A year later the Preparatory Department, for boys 6 to 12 years of age, opened in adjacent facilities.

In 1894 the Kamehameha School for Girls opened on its own campus nearby.  Between 1930 and 1955, all three schools moved to its present location – Kapālama Heights – less than a mile mauka of the old Bishop Museum campus. In 1965 the boy’s and girl’s campuses became co-ed and the curriculum was increasingly geared to college preparation.

Prior to 1897, Kamehameha students attended Sunday services at Kaumakapili Church, then located about a mile from campus at the corner of Nuʻuanu and King Streets. It took about 20 minutes to cover the distance on foot – with the boys wearing their heavy West Point-style uniforms designed for “long lasting quality, not comfort.”

On December 19, 1897, a new campus chapel dedication took place on the sixty-sixth anniversary of Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s birth. KS scholars, teachers, administrators and community representatives filled the whole building.

Reverend William Brewster Oleson (1851–1915), former principal of the Hilo boarding school (founded by David Belden Lyman in 1836,) helped organize the schools on a similar model.

At the first Founder’s Day ceremony in December, 1889, Charles Reed Bishop, Pauahi’s husband and a member of Kamehameha’s first Board of Trustees, elaborated on her intentions.

“Bernice Pauahi Bishop, by founding the Kamehameha Schools, intended to establish institutions which should be of lasting benefit to her country…The founder of these schools was a true Hawaiian. She knew the advantages of education and well directed industry. Industrious and skillful herself, she respected those qualities in others.”  (KSBE)

“The hope that there would come a turning point, when, through enlightenment, the adoption of regular habits and Christian ways of living, the natives would not only hold their numbers, but would increase again …”

“And so, in order that her own people might have the opportunity for fitting themselves for such competition, and be able to hold their own in a manly and friendly way, without asking any favors which they were not likely to receive, these schools were provided for, in which Hawaiians have the preference, and which she hoped they would value and take the advantages of as fully as possible.” (KSBE)

In 1996 two new campuses were established on the neighbor islands of Maui and Hawai‘i, and they now serve students in grades K-12.  Kamehameha subsidizes a significant portion of the cost to educate every student.

In addition to three campuses, Kamehameha operates a number of preschool sites enrolling children statewide; and serves thousands more students through community outreach and scholarship programs, and collaborations with educational and community organizations.  (Lots of info and images from KSBE.)

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